What It Takes to Become a Ballerina?

If your daughter is considering a career as a professional ballerina, there are many issues to consider. Although ballet is a beautiful art form that takes years to perfect, it takes considerable financial backing, good health, and pain tolerance to make it to the professional level.

Finances are perhaps the biggest hurdle facing a ballerina with aspirations of the professional world. Not only are lessons, leotards, and pointe shoes costly, the expense doesn't end there. Also consider that amateur dancers also have to be fed, housed, and clothed. Many are unable to find meaningful part-time work during training, as they are physically exhausted from their dancing.

Many ballerinas also take lessons in yoga; see massage therapists, and some need preventative, elective surgery for their toes if they expect to make it professionally. All of this can add up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars before a ballerina takes her first professional role as an ensemble member, which pays between twenty-five and thirty-seven thousand dollars a year. Most girls would need well-off parents or a patron of the arts to launch her career. Of course, there is always a girl who manages to break through without all of these considerations, but that is a rare and lucky fluke.

Good health means much more in the dance world than it does to the general populace. Not only do ballerinas need to be strong, they also need to have excellent cardiovascular health. A run-of-the-mill mitral valve prolapse, a common and usually minor heart defect, can sound the death knell for a dance career. Should your daughters feet or ankles not be text-book perfect, she may suffer career-ending injuries or constant pain. In ballet, turned-out hips are desirable, but will often hyper-extend, leading to ligament tears and arthritis. Her weight must be low and she may not be too tall or too short- five feet four to five feet nine is the ideal.

Pain tolerance is a fact of life in the professional dancing world. Pain management drugs can effect balance and timing, as well as vision- all crucial elements to dance. It is no wonder that many ballerinas turn to their own pain tolerance to soldier through everything from body aches to stress fractures in the toes, feet, and ankles. While many girls find this an acceptable trade-off to be a professional ballerina, not everyone is equipped mental or emotionally to suffer for art.

All told, the life of a professional ballerina can be a financial hardship and is also very hard on a girl's body. While ballet is excellent exercise, beautiful, and can be very lucrative at the highest levels, ask yourself if your daughter is ready to meet these challenges.


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